Rhine Cruise - Day 7, Amsterdam

Today we had a canal tour and bus tour of Amsterdam after lunch. I took a lot of pictures of the countryside and windmills on our arrival, but didn't notice that it was not in auto mode (the last pictures were taken at night), so they didn't come out since I didn't check them. This was the coldest day, about high of 46, and while I was adding layers for our tours, I was reminded we would be inside a boat and bus. Unfortunately, we forgot that all bus tours include about an hour of free time for shopping (or walking outside), so I was a little chilly. After dinner we went for a walk, fully bundled up. Although Holland was the last Protestant country in Europe, today it is very perverse, and they are proud of their tolerance for aberrant lifestyles.

Old City Gate

You can see more pictures from the trip here.

Baltic Cruise - Day 7, Helsinki

Joshua has decided he never wants to travel where English is not the first language. We spent about 2/12 hours walking in circles, or at least the taking the long way, to find the information center. The maps on the cruise ship were pretty useless, and the data plan for Dan's phone did not have a useable GPS.

We finally found our way to the ferry port, where we boarded a ferry for Suomenlinna, the sea fortress off the coast of Helsinki, Finland.

Helsinki Cathedral, the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Cathedral

Statue of Luther in the Cathedral

Suomenlinna Church built in 1854

Waterfront at Suomenlinna

Walking on more Cobblestones

Inside the Military Museum

Fire Station

Yes, Discerning History did a little A-roll

Submarine Vesikko, launched in 1933

We caught the ferry near the submarine, and it only took about 30 minutes to get back to the ship. We made it back with about 5 minutes to spare before they pulled up the gangplank. Did I say it was a brisk walk?

Baltic Cruise - Day 6, St. Petersburg

Port of St. Petersburg

We had a quiet day on board ship our second day in St. Petersburg since it was the Sabbath. We read scripture and prayed for all the Hope and Sovereign families we could remember (we should have brought our deck of prayer cards!) This was the most relaxing Sabbath I can remember, since there were no sheep to minister to, but we really did miss the fellowship of the saints.

Here are some photos of cruising out of the St. Petersburg:

The dome of  St. Isaac's Cathedral

Aid to Navigation on end of jetty outside St. Petersburg 

And then we got to watch the sun set over the Baltic from our private balcony:

Baltic Cruise - Day 5, St. Petersburg

Egyptian Sphinx on River Neva

For some, this was one of the favorite days of the cruise, probably because we had our own private tour guide who spoke English, and van with a driver who knew where we were going. They even took us to clean restrooms that didn't require coins when we asked, in gift shops with complimentary hot tea, coffee, cookies, and vodka (we were in Russia, after all!) The day started out a bit rainy, but the Lord was kind and brought the sun out before our evening boat tour.

Church of the Spilt Blood

The church is built on the site of where Tsar Alexander II was hit by grenades, which mortally wounded him.

Bronze Horseman, Peter the Great

Throne Room in Hermitage Museum

Mosaic Floor at Hermitage Museum

Intricate Door in Hermitage Museum

For our family, the Hermitage was not the highlight of our tour in St. Petersburg (too many violations of the 2nd Commandment and too much nudity), not to mention just too much materialism. We wish we had asked to tour the Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineering and Communications Troops, which is a "must see" for military history buffs (I think there a few in our family!) But we went to the Siege Museum instead, which was very interesting. It is to remember the 900-day siege by the Nazis during World War II. We had a guided tour by a woman who was very enthusiastic about the exhibits, but our English speaking guide was not quite as enthusiastic, although she appreciated that the museum depicted how bad it really was.

Diary of a young girl during the siege of Leningrad

Doorway to altar in Peter and Paul Cathedral

We were probably must struck by the opulence in St. Petersburg, which is evident in this tiny portion of the altar in this cathedral, which is the burying place of all Russian Emperors and Empreses from Peter the Great to Alexander III. It is situated in the middle of the Peter and Paul Fortress, which is a city within a city on a small island the Nev River to protect from a possible attach by the Swedish army and navy.

One of the many bridges

Palace Facades on Water

When Peter the Great built St. Petersburg, he wanted to show all of Europe that Russia was powerful, and he spared no expense. There are no records of how many peasants died building the extravagant palaces for the government officials, but it was more than a few thousand. Knowing that most of the Russians lived in extreme poverty under communism, seeing the wealth of the government was astounding. "When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule,  the people mourn." Proverbs 29:2 KJV